Chapter 336 - 224: The Yulin’s Predicament: Yu Fei’s Decision

Chapter 336: Chapter 224: The Yulin’s Predicament: Yu Fei’s Decision

Kang Ming waved his hand. "It’s my duty, so don’t worry! We went through the same thing..."

Feng Hua giggled and slipped behind Kang Ming, giving him a light hug.

"You bet! Why, last year... our dear Mr. Kang was so scared he cried!"

Exasperated, Kang Ming jabbed Feng Hua away with his elbow. "Get lost! You stink!"

Hearing this, Qin Hao’s eyes lit up. "Boss Feng Hua, give us the details!"

A nostalgic look entered Feng Hua’s eyes. "We didn’t have the advantages you have now. Do you know what your greatest strength is?"

Jiang Nianwei looked at the group, a sense of understanding dawning on her.

Kang Ming took over the conversation.

"Your greatest strength is that Profound Armor you’re all wearing. It gives you an incredibly high margin for error. This standard-issue model can completely block attacks from imps, and even a Tier-4 bladedemon would struggle to breach its defenses.

I don’t know whose idea this was, but this armor will let you adapt to the battlefield much faster and face the killing directly!

On a chaotic battlefield, defending only your vitals versus your entire body are two completely different things. When you realize the enemy’s attacks aren’t that big of a threat, it’s naturally easier to find your fighting spirit!

However, your performance today was a huge disappointment. That is just a piece of ordinary armor, not some all-powerful relic of a Martial Saint. I saw some idiots actually take a hit on purpose just to test the armor’s defenses!

You’re hopelessly stupid! If I find anyone pulling that kind of stunt tomorrow, you’ll strip off that armor and face the enemy bare-chested! Hmph..."

Yu Fei listened with an awkward expression. He couldn’t help but look over at his Yulin Army teammates and saw Xiang Kun and the others shamefully lowering their heads.

It was obvious they knew exactly who had been so foolish.

He quickly assured Mr. Kang, "Mr. Kang, this foolish behavior must be stopped. I’ll take responsibility. From now on, if anyone dares to treat this so lightly again, their combat merits will be cut by twenty percent. Also, if I could trouble you over the next few days to select the five new recruits with the most outstanding battlefield performance, I’ll grant them a bonus of combat merits!"

He then turned to the seniors who had been babysitting all day and made a promise. "To all the seniors, you’ve worked hard today. My teammates have been a lot of trouble, but I can’t let you all work for nothing.

Senior Feng Hua said she wouldn’t take a single one of the Yulin Army’s combat merits, but as your juniors, we can’t be so shameless as to accept that. I will give thirty percent of my personal combat merits as a token of our gratitude!

It’s just a small gesture, so please, I insist you don’t refuse!"

As he spoke, he cupped his fists and bowed to the group.

The battlefield rumbled ceaselessly, and Yu Fei’s sudden offer of thanks caught the seniors of the Salted Fish Assault Team completely by surprise.

To be honest, they had complicated feelings about Yu Fei. He was a year below them, yet he had eliminated their entire team during the military exercise. They felt resentful, and it had even landed them in considerable debt.

After the exercise, they had to endure a fair share of humiliating remarks. But their skills had been inferior, so what could they do?

When Feng Hua decided to completely forgo taking a cut of the Yulin Army’s combat merits, it was inevitable that some would grumble in private. Even if, historically, the first-year students didn’t earn many merits, every little bit counts. No one would turn their nose up at combat merits.

They had all seen Yu Fei’s combat achievements for themselves today. So when he voluntarily offered his personal combat merits to thank the Salted Fish Team, they couldn’t help but feel a pleasant surprise.

A voluntary gift from Yu Fei was a completely different concept from Feng Hua forcefully taking a cut. Besides, given Yu Fei’s performance, the share allocated by the higher-ups might not have even reached thirty percent.

The cut might have been fifty percent in previous years, but that was only because the total earnings were so small and the freshmen’s contributions were so low. The command’s recommended distribution ratio was based on combat contribution, after all!

Hengji’s face immediately lit up with a smile.

"Oh, how could we... Well, thank you so much! Little Brother Yu Fei, you’re a stand-up guy! If you need anything in the future, just ask. If I can do it, I’ll do it, no questions asked!"

Yu Fei was amused. ’Haha! She’s a real character.’

Feng Hua watched this scene unfold quietly, not interfering with Yu Fei’s decision. There had been rumblings of complaint within the Salted Fish Team ever since the military exercise. That was why she had ignored the terms of Zhang Hu’s bet—after all, the conditions had been ambiguous to begin with, and she had no desire to honor them.

But her pride wouldn’t allow her to take a cut of Yu Fei’s merits. As a result, the resentment among the Salted Fish Team members had only intensified, culminating in Hengji’s absurd stunt of renting a cargo van instead of a troop transport. No one who went along with it objected, and they didn’t even give her a heads-up.

Even though she was the combat squad leader, the Celestial Pride Class was a free-form combat group, not one bound by strict rules. It was hard to unite people, and a team could fall apart in an instant.

This decision by Yu Fei nipped in the bud the tensions that had been quietly growing within the Salted Fish Team.

Kang Ming had privately complained to her that the "seniors training rookies" model wasn’t going smoothly on the battlefield today. Some of the seniors were just going through the motions, and the Yulin Army had suffered several setbacks as a result, but he couldn’t really say anything about it.

There’s a huge difference between doing the bare minimum and doing an excellent job, but he couldn’t fault them for being merely adequate.

At that moment, Feng Hua stepped forward and called out, "What are you all standing around for? Aren’t you going to thank our generous patron?"

WHOOSH...

A clamor of thanks immediately erupted. The members of the Salted Fish Team, who had been a bit moody just moments before, were now incredibly enthusiastic.

"Junior Brother Yu, are you taking on disciples? How about you consider me...?"

"Get lost! Have you no shame? My lord, if you would not cast me aside, I would be willing to call you my adoptive father!"

"Alright, I accept! When we get back, I’ll have you kicked out of the school and the army. If you’ve got the guts, get yourself held back a year and join the Yulin Army!"

Feng Hua suddenly joined in the ruckus. Yu Fei didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he watched the mischievous senior. ’She’s a real character, just like Qin Hao. You find weirdos like her everywhere!’

The atmosphere was suddenly electric. The members of the Yulin Army, for their part, didn’t think much of it. First, it was Yu Fei’s personal combat merits, and he had every right to decide how to distribute them.

Second, Yu Fei had also said he would give extra rewards to the top five performers. From what they knew of their leader, he was definitely not a stingy person. Whether they could get rich quick all depended on their perfor—no, on whether they could suck up to Mr. Kang enough.

A crowd from the Yulin Army had already gathered around Mr. Kang, fawning over him and making him extremely annoyed.

Jiang Nianwei watched the scene quietly, a faint smile playing on her lips.

She had been planning to talk to Yu Fei later and give him feedback about the budding friction between the two teams, but he had already solved it with his superpower: money.

The friction between the two teams stemmed from two sources. First, the seniors were the losers of the military exercise, and their pride was still wounded; few people are willing to graciously admit defeat. Second, because they lost, they had to pay out a large amount of combat merits—equivalent to the haul from a major battle.

With these two factors combined, many of them were harboring resentment. When Feng Hua then decided not to take a cut from the freshmen’s merits, these feelings naturally festered.

In reality, it was less that the Salted Fish Class had lost to the Yulin Army and more that they had lost to Yu Fei. They couldn’t hold a grudge against Yu Fei himself, but it was impossible to expect them to be full of goodwill toward the rest of the Yulin Army.

From the moment they had mounted the city walls today, Yu Fei had sensed the undercurrent of malice. He’d been trying to figure out how to resolve it. He himself didn’t care, but his teammates in the Yulin Army were in a rather miserable position.

The members of the Salted Fish Team looked at Feng Hua, who stood to the side looking a bit ragged. Her armor was covered in grime, and the strands of hair on her forehead were matted with sweat, leaving visible salt stains.

They couldn’t help but suspect that Yu Fei’s decision to share his merits might have been influenced by the fact that Feng Hua had helped him in the fight.

Remembering it now, many of them recalled favors they had received from Feng Hua in the past, and a sense of guilt began to surface.

Their skills were inferior, and they had been half-hearted in their duties toward the juniors. There was no excuse for it; they had simply been in the wrong.

The boisterous atmosphere quieted down for a moment. The small cliques that had formed during the day suddenly started interacting, with members of the Salted Fish Team actively beginning to share combat techniques and important tips.

Chi Yu brought over some simple meals and supplies, making sure to give Yu Fei an extra-large portion.

A short while later, the next shift arrived to relieve them. When they heard about Yu Fei’s generous act, they were ecstatic. Learning of his terrifying combat record from their teammates only made them more eager and expectant.

Most conflicts between people can be boiled down to a clash of interests.